However, many archaeological excavations have confirmed that our ancestors probably mastered the smelting technology of natural copper in the late Neolithic period. It is the emergence of smelting technology that provides technical support for the improvement of weapons, thus making weapons transition from stone to metal.
The bronze weapon period is roughly equivalent to what we call the early Xia, Shang, Zhou and Qin dynasties. A bronze knife unearthed from Majiayao cultural site in Gansu province shows that our ancestors began to use bronze utensils 5000 years ago.
In addition, a cast shovel stone model made of argillaceous sandstone unearthed from Huoshaogou cultural site in Qingquan, Gansu Province shows that the casting technology of bronze weapons had reached a certain level at that time. With the rise of the status of war, it should be natural that the continuously optimized bronze casting technology should be used in war. Therefore, many experts and scholars speculate that the Xia Dynasty used copper as a weapon. Of course, because the Xia Dynasty was a long time ago, and so far no remains have been found to show that ancient Chinese characters had been produced at that time, so future generations know little about it. So we can only infer the use and degree of bronze weapons at that time. Let's call the Xia Dynasty the embryonic period of bronze weapons.
With the development of Shang society, in order to consolidate the state power, the ruling class must suppress the resistance of slaves, so the slave owners strengthened the state machine and established a powerful army. In addition to soldiers, the army had to be equipped with weapons, so slave owners also strengthened the production of weapons, thus promoting the rapid development of bronze weapons. The Zijingshan site in the north of Zhengzhou Mall was identified by archaeologists as the capital site in the middle of Shang Dynasty, and a large number of ancient weapons, including bronze knives and axes, were unearthed. These relics fully show that from the early Shang Dynasty, there were large-scale bronze weapon casting workshops around the capital, and the workers in these workshops had high weapon making skills.
From the late Shang Dynasty to the middle Zhou Dynasty, bronze weapons developed continuously. In modern times, bronze fighting weapons, such as knives, guns, daggers, halberds, axes, locks and protective equipment armor, have been found in tombs and cellars in Yin Ruins, Taixi, TombNo. Tomb, Joo Won? and Feng Hao websites. From these unearthed cultural relics, it can be seen that the bronze weapons in this period have been greatly improved in shape, from single to diverse, such as no Hu Ge in the straight part, short Hu Ge in the straight part, short Hu Yi Chuan Ge, short Hu Er Chuan Ge and so on. Secondly, the smelting technology has been greatly improved, such as: 12 bronze weapon unearthed from the tomb of the rich, with tin content between 8%- 19%; In addition, the manufacturing process has also made great progress. For example, a bronze lock with iron blade of Shang Dynasty unearthed in a city of Hebei Province was identified, and its straight blade was forged by a meteorite with a thickness of about 2 mm, and then cast together with the bronze lock body. All these show that craftsmen at that time had mastered certain forging and casting techniques and were able to manufacture weapons with higher technical level and greater lethality. Compared with stone weapons, the lethality of this weapon has undoubtedly improved significantly.
From the weekend to the early Qin dynasty, it can be said that bronze weapons are in their heyday. The early Qin dynasty was still dominated by bronze weapons. According to documents, in the spring of 1974, a large number of bronze weapons, such as bronze swords, bronze quilts, bronze brothers, bronze halberds, bronze spears and bronze quilts, were unearthed in the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Pit of Qin Shihuang Mausoleum in Lishan, Shaanxi Province. Almost all the 40,000 weapons unearthed are made of bronze. Meanwhile, due to the appearance of iron weapons, bronze weapons began to decline. Qin Shihuang assembled weapons in Xianyang, the capital, which accelerated the curtain call of bronze weapons from the military stage.
"If the appearance of the first stone tool on earth broke the source of the long river of human history, then the appearance of metal and its purposeful use in war opened the door to civilized society. This statement is not unreasonable. First of all, from the material point of view, stone tools are made of natural materials, and after polishing, they belong to rough machining; Although metal weapons are made of natural materials, they are refined and forged and belong to finishing. These are two completely different production technologies. Secondly, judging from the social productivity reflected by the two weapons, the use of stone weapons is roughly the same as that of primitive society, and the productivity is quite backward; The use of metal weapons in China continued from the end of primitive society to the late feudal society, and the productivity of this period was obviously improved. Third, from the functional point of view, stone tools are almost simultaneously production tools and labor tools, and their functions are combined into one, which is not military; Metal weapon is a full-time military tool with specific functions, strong combat and great power. Therefore, it can be considered that metal weapons are the first leap in the history of weapons.
reference data
1 Xia, Shang and Zhou dating project